CURRICULUM

PREPARING CURRICULUM CHANGES

Timelines for Curricular Changes to Take Effect

New programs, new majors, and program deletions must be approved by the UA President and the Board of Regents (BOR). They will also be reviewed by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) during a subsequent program review. The NWCCU must be informed of major program additions or deletions by March 15 prior to its annual June meeting.

The Board of Regents meets five times a year: September, December, February, April and June. Proposals requiring BOR action must have received UAS and Systemwide Academic Council (SAC) approval at least six weeks prior to a scheduled BOR meeting.

Category A: Curriculum Changes Involving More Than One School

Criteria:

Proposals that impact more than one academic unit must be submitted to the Faculty Senate for recommendation to proceed prior to being reviewed by the Curriculum Committee. Instances include proposals for:

• Changes in the GERs;
• Adding new Occupational Endorsement, Certificate, Associate, Baccalaureate, Master's, Graduate Certificate, or Post-Baccalaureate Certificate programs OR deleting/suspending such programs;
• Adding/dropping courses to any of the aforementioned programs, if those courses are not taught by faculty with the program's academic unit;
• Changing course prerequisites, if the prerequisite course(s) is/are not taught by faculty within the program's academic unit

 Process overview:

After recommendation to proceed by the Faculty Senate, these proposals should be forwarded to the Curriculum Committee for detailed review according to the curriculum guidelines and to ensure that appropriate changes are implemented in the catalog.

Special note:In developing new courses, UAA and UAF catalogs should be consulted. In cases where similar courses exist at UAA or UAF, faculty should consider using the same course number, title and description. Similarities and clear distinctions need to be maintained among lower division, upper division, and graduate course numbering within UAS and UA Banner Student Information systems. Those with access to Banner may consult it directly. Consultation may also be undertaken with the Registrar (UAS Admissions and Records).

Procedures for Category A proposals:

Step One.  Proposals must first be approved by the school from which the degree will originate.

Step Two.  A summary of the new or changed program proposal should be sent to the Chair of the Faculty Senate to be added to the Senate agenda. The information packet should include

a)  a brief rationale for the new program or change and an estimate of potential student numbers
b)  a list of the specific course requirements for the program or changes in prerequisites(s)
c)  a discussion of additional resources needed for the new program or change, including additional faculty, library holdings, special equipment, etc.
d)  a concise assessment of the impact of the proposed program or change on another faculty group in areas such as in the GERs and new required support courses
e)  evidence that faculty in other academic units have been consulted
f)  policy change form with appropriate signatures

Step Three. The Senate reviews the proposal in light of the University of Alaska Southeast's Mission Statement and Strategic Plan. The Senate will also consider the items listed in Step 2 above: budgets, faculty resources, and any other factors it considers pertinent. If the general concept of the program or program change is approved, then the originating faculty member should forward specific catalog copy and course proposals to the Chair of the Curriculum Committee by the deadline (see Deadlines for All Curricular Changes).

Step Four. The appropriate Curriculum Committee will review the proposal details and report its recommendation to the Senate.

Step Five. For Certificate, Associate, Baccalaureate, and Master's programs, the Senate recommends to the Provost that an approved new program be presented to the Board of Regents. The Provost determines whether or not proposed changes to an existing program are significant enough to warrant Board of Regents consideration. The Chair of the Senate will notify the Provost of the Senate recommendation via a transmittal letter issued within 5 working days of Senate approval.

Occupational Endorsements (9-29 credits) require Chancellor and the University of Alaska President's approval, and the Senate will make its recommendation to the Provost for conveyance to the President.

Program Creation and Approval Process Chart(.doc)

Requirements for justifying new programs or substantial changes to existing programs  

A Board of Regents Program Approval Form (hexagon form .doc). must be completed and submitted to the Provost's office along with the appropriate documentation as stated below, per University Regulation 10.04.

New degree or certificate program proposals must address the following points:

1. degree or certificate title, university or community college unit responsible for program (e.g. Bachelor of Arts in English, UAA);
2. educational objectives and rationale for the new program;
3. relevance to the university of community college mission, goals, and objectives;
4. collaboration with other universities and community colleges within the University of Alaska;
5. if at the geraduate level, identification of other universities in the WICHE region which offer similar programs and an explanation why it is necessary to provide a similar offering in Alaska;
6. demand for program (citing manpower studies or similar statistics), relation to state of Alaska long-range development, relation to other programs in the University of Alaska that may depend on or interact with the proposed program;
7. outline of schedule for implementation of the program;
8. projection of enrollments (FTE (full-time equivalent) and headcount) and graduates over next five years;
9. availability and quality and/or requirement for new faculty and/or staff to support the program;
10. library, equipment, and similar resource requirement, availability, appropirateness, and quality;
11. new facilty or renovated space requirements;
12. projected cost of items 9, 10, and 11 and budgetary plan for acquiring resources;
13. consultant reviews, reports from visitations to other institutions, or names and opinions of personnel consulted in preparing the proposal;
14. concurrence of appropriate advisory councils; and
15. an executive summary of about one page.

Program deletion proposals address the following points:

1. degree or certificate title, university or community college unit responsible for program;
2. rationale for deleting the program (lack of relevance, drop in enrollment, loss of quality, cost contatinment, etc., as determined through program review); and
3. concurrence of appropriate advisory councils.

Major revisions of program proposals must address the following points:
(This applies to revision of degree or certificate programs that substantially alter the purpose of the program. It does not mean changes, additions, or deletion of a major or minor).

1. degree or certificate title, university or community college unit responsible for program;
2. rationale for revision (change in focus, demand, budget, etc. as determined through program review);
3. justification if the revision results in duplication of a program at another University of Alaska unit, and description of collaboration with other university and community colleges within the University of Alaska;
4. impact the revision will have on other programs within the University of Alaska (enhance, interact, result in deletion, etc.);
5. requirements the revision will have for addition of new faculty and staff, new library, equipment or related, or new or altered space;
6. budgetary impacts resulting from the revision;
7. concurrence of appropriate advisory councils; and
8. an exectuvie summary of about one page.

Category B: Curriculum Changes Within a School

Criteria:

If the proposal changes curriculum within an academic unit or changes prerequisites that are offered by the same academic unit, then the proposed change qualifies as a Category B change. Instances include proposals for:

• changes in the organization of GERs within an academic unit;
• proposals for new courses or course deletions within an academic unit;
• changing course prerequisities or credit hours, if the courses(s) is/are taught by faculty within the program's academic unit.

Process Overview:

Proposals are submitted directly to the appropriate Curriculum Committee using approved online forms.

Procedures for Category B proposals:

Step One. Initiating faculty develop a proposal and coordinate it with faculty in the appropriate discipline(s) for all campuses and submit it to the Department Chair and appropriate Dean for coordination of academic unit review.

Step Two. If consensus is reached, the academic unit's representative to Curriculum Committee is responsible for forwarding a proposal to the registrar for system issues review prior to placement on the Curriculum Committee agenda for 1st reading. Note that proposals for minors must include a mission statement, program goals, and expected student outcomes. The proposal must also include assurance that full-time tenure-track faculty in the program will assume responsibility for the minor. The courses that make up the proposed minor should be existing catalog courses, with the possible exception that an introductory or capstone course may be needed to give coherence to the minor. If a new course is needed with the the program, approval for the course should be sought at the same time that approval is sought for the minor.

Step Three. The sponsoring academic unit's representative to the Curriculum Committee articulates a proposal and follows up on issues prior to 2nd readings.

Step Four. Curriculum Committee action occurs at the 2nd reading prior to forwarding the proposal to Administration for approval by the appropriate Dean and Provost.

Deadlines for All Curricular Changes

1. All proposals must be received at the Provost's Office by October 1 in order to be processed through all stages prior to catalog preparation deadline.

2. All curriculum changes must be approved through the appropriate Curriculum Committee by February 15.

3. Proposals must be received at the Provost's office by March 1 in order to be reviewed by the Committee in the spring. However, if approved, these proposals will not be included in the next printed catalog, but will be included in the online academic catalog.

4.  Faculty and student advisors should consult the online UAS Academic Catalog for the most current information.

FORMS FOR ALL CURRICULAR CHANGES

All forms are available from the Curriculum Committee Website.
www.uas.alaska.edu/Curriculum/

Category A Forms:

UAS Policy Change Proposal Form  Use this form for changes that affect policy or may impact other programs, such as changes to GERs, or program requirements. These changes need to go through Faculty Senate prior to going before the Curriculum Committee.

UAS Program Proposal Form  Use this form to propose new degree programs to Faculty Senate and the Curriculum Committee. These proposals need to go through Faculty Senate prior to going before the Curriculum Committee.

BOR Program Approval Summary Form (hexagon form)  Use this form for Board of Regents approval of new programs and if the Provost determines that proposed changes to an existing program are significant enough to warrant BOR consideration.

Category B Form:

UAS Curriculum Proposal Form  Use this form for course deletions, new courses, or significant changes to a existing courses such as changes to credit hours, prerequisites, course title changes and/or descriptions. Category B proposals must only affect a single academic unit.

BOR - Inactive and Deleted Programs

Programs placed on "Inactive Status" will be suspended for a specified period not to exceed five years. Students in the program at the time this status is adopted shall be permitted to conclude their course of study, but no new students may be admitted to the program. Programs designated as "Inactive" will be so noted on institutional program inventories. At the conclusion of the designated inactive period - not to exceed five years - the institution must review the program's status and may either delete it or reactivate it. In the event the institution chooses to reactivate the program, the institution shall provide the Board of Regents with satisfactory evidence that the resources necessary for the program are available and must establish performance goals for the program that are also acceptable to the Board. Students are to be notified by the Provost at the time the program is placed in Inactive Status and a deadline set for remaining students to complete the program.

Deletion of Programs: Standard program change information must be submitted whenever a program or option is deleted. This same provision applies whenever two or more programs or options are consolidated into one or more new offerings. 

09/07